Reviews Restaurant 101

The intimate and relaxing ambience, cozy - European look, excellent fine dine menus-
It was indeed an indelible dining experience with my food lover friends at Restaurant 101.

With the state-of-the-art facility and more developments underway, adding to BPO companies, different brands and concessionaires, condominium and residential area, the modern and pleasing look inspired by cities in Italy and Spain, McKinley Hill is truly a perfect live-work-play-learn-and-shop community. It is one of many attractions in Taguig City and home of romantic and local version of Italy's famous Venice Grand Canal.

Aside from sightseeing, eating is one of the best things to do and there is Restaurant 101 ready to serve.

101 is the application restaurant of Enderun Colleges offering wine tasting dinners and lunch specials. It was my first visit then and one of my personal favorites is the Caesar Salad, a mixed of romaine, soft boiled egg, parmesan, bacon and croutons. Just like my friends and myself, I know you will also love the Peanut Butter and Passion Fruit Tart. It is made of cocoa biscuit, layered chocolate, peanut butter and passion fruit ganache.

The French quail, Conchiglie, and the curry taste of the lamb shank with roasted vegetables must also be added to your bucketlist. They also served us the cream of mushroom with baked shiitake bun and crispy pancetta, Vegetable tarte and Pan seared Foie gras. From tables, wine glass, and plates, up to how the food were presented were excellently executed. The student staff were all so welcoming and nice.

Overall it was a great experience and I would love to bring and recommend 101 to my relatives and friends.

Restaurant 101 is the application restaurant of Enderun Colleges, a home to Southeast Asia's leading culinary institute - Ducasse Education Philippines. It offers classic European cuisines and French dishes with a local twist.

The ambiance is fancy and cozy, quite intimidating too. It's good for having a romantic date, private meetings and corporate events as well. Service is excellent. The staff was very attentive and welcoming. They also have an open kitchen so you can see what's cooking and how they prepare the dishes.

A huge discovery of mine is that Restaurant 101 is offering a breakfast buffet every Friday morning for only P300.00. That's a steal!!

We got to try several dishes (not the breakfast buffet) and I recommend these:
Duck & Waffles - their playful take on the classic Chicken and Waffles. I recommend you get slices of each elements and eat all of it in one bite.

Cream of Mushroom - baked shiitake bun (it's a homemade dough) with diced mushrooms. The soup itself was viscous and creamy. Unlike other mushroom soup that's cheesy, for this one, you'll really taste the mushroom. I like it.

French Quail - bones were taken out so it'll be easy to eat it. The meat is similar to chicken but I can't explain how simply delicious it was.

Delice - true to its name, it was simply delicious. It's 68% dark chocolate. Moist, slightly bitter and sweet. In fact, this is my favorite dessert.

Cup of Joe - coffee pot de créme, and walnut tart. Most of us like the walnut tart.

Please try the Avocado Toast and the Herb-crusted Lamb as well !!

Price range is on the higher end. Probably an improvement could be a signage somehow so people (especially those new in Mckinley Hill area and Venice Grand Canal Mall) would know that there exist a restaurant inside Enderun College.

It didn’t take long for Restaurant 101’s hospitality crew to leave its mark on Manila‘s competitive food scene. This chill-yet-sophisticated restaurant is your go-to spot for a weeknight steak that won’t break the bank. Steak Season Promotion: P680* inclusive of 250g USDA Rib-eye Steak, 7 side dishes (choose 2), 5 sauces

When people hear about Enderun Colleges, the premier college in McKinley Hill known for turning out quality culinary graduates, they immediately think that it is an expensive place, and that its flagship restaurant, Restaurant 101, is an expensive place to dine.

For those who want to take out someone special on a date this place is highly recommended as well for those momentous occasions. Their 6-7 course meals are just worth your time and money and I'm sure you would try like their Guinness Braised Angus Rib finger. I'm lucky as well that Foie Gras is also part of the meun so It's worth going to.

Restaurant 101 is like a hidden special gem for me and my family. It's our go-to fine dining restaurant for special occasions and we love how it's very intimate. I think since it's primarily a training ground for culinary students of Enderun, there really isn't a need to market it. We've been here probably five times and they have always been consistent with the quality and taste of the food. They always have guest chefs from different countries that offer their own special menus and it's always worth the price. We never leave the restaurant unsatisfied and hungry. Service is wonderful too. Photos were taken from our last visit there about 3 months ago.

Enderun Colleges never ceases to amaze me. Every time I find myself in the McKinley Hill Campus, there’s something new brewing. Be it the renovation of classrooms, construction of a new building, addition of new courses to the college offerings, or conception of a new menu at Restaurant 101, the ever-evolving process of Enderun makes me want to come back and check whenever I’m in the Taguig area. Lucky for me, I got an invite from my Alma mater to sample their latest restaurant creations, 101’s Market Menu as prepared and served by members of the alumni.

The press and blogger event started with a demo for those who want to see how three of the dishes to be served to us later are prepared. (Well, for me it actually started about an hour earlier with a self-guided walking tour of the campus to see the new Titans Hall and other developments.) Alumni chefs, some of whom were batch mates, headed the demo in the Culinary Amphitheater with Enderun Chef Instructor Thomas Wenger doing the introductions and inserting his notes on certain processes.

Afterwards, we were led downstairs to Restaurant 101 for the dinner proper. Funny thing is… that was actually my first time to sit and dine inside Restaurant 101, McKinley Hill. I used to eat at 101 back when the newly opened Enderun Colleges still had a place in Ortigas. When the school moved to Taguig, I always found myself either rushing to start the looong commute home or too busy with classes that I didn’t even get to treat myself to a lunch or dinner there! At least I got to experience the meal with a fresh perspective, just like some of the other first-timers in attendance. Onto the meal, then:

Scotch Egg — Bacon crust, glazed asparagus, smoked cream, truffle dressing
It’s quail egg unlike what you’ve ever experienced before. They took an ingredient that’s commonly associated in the Philippines with street food or Chinese Birthday Noodles and transformed it into a dish that brings together so many flavors and textures—sweet-crunchy asparagus, savory-crunchy-soft egg, earthy-tart truffle dressing, and rich cream. The Scotch Egg is a tempting teaser of what’s to follow.

Pan-Fried Goose Liver — Mesclun greens, cranberry dressing
Am I biased in saying I love this salad? Yes, because I have a deep appreciation for pan-fried goose liver. No terrines or pâtés for me, please. Pan-searing brings out the crispy, caramelized outer part of the goose liver that’s half of the experience. (The other half, of course, is the taste!) Serving it in a salad was a way to balance the richness out as some people find the liver itself umay-inducing (resulting in a tired palate). You’ve got your fresh greens, tart strawberry slices, and the naturally sweet/tart cranberry dressing that instantly refresh the palate with each bite.

Cream of White Bean Soup — With prawn and chorizo galette
I’ve tried a lot of ‘Cream Ofs’ before, but not with beans. If you like the texture of beans, then this is beans galore. The prawn and chorizo galette adds a salty, savory factor to the soup. Plus points for showmanship, since they pour the soup over the garnished bowl in front of the diner.

Beetroot Marinated Salmon — Pickled cucumbers, horseradish mashed potatoes, “chicharon” of salmon skin
Attractive colors on the plate. That’s the first impression I got from this dish. I love mashed potatoes and I love salmon, so the pairing is one I enjoy immensely. They added the pickled cucumbers to make it interesting, but I like how it didn’t turn out too sour. Not so much pickle as it still possesses that fresh cucumber flavor. The salmon skin chicharon is just plain fun to eat, while the salmon meat itself is tender and earthy from the beetroot marinade.

Oven-roasted Magret of Duck — With apple hazelnut chutney, celeriac puree, port reduction
The duck was as tender as dark meat gets, and the aromatic taste of celeriac was distinctive. The only thing I didn’t like about this dish was how the hazelnut in the apple hazelnut chutney seemed past its prime.

Layered White and Dark Chocolate Mousse — With butter-mint ice cream
This dessert was as much a treat to the eye as it was a delightful meal-ender. The harmonious combination of dark and white chocolate was countered by the raspberry jelly on the top, and who doesn’t like chocolate discs to chew on? I’m more of a peppermint gal myself, but the butter-mint ice cream did refresh the palate after the luxurious six-course meal.

In addition to the Alain Ducasse level of quality in the food, there’s the students training for F&B service class working in the restaurant. Remember to be patient with them, because it’s their chance to put into practice all the techniques they’ve been taught.

Thanks, Enderun, for having me over!

We came here for dinner to celebrate my brother's graduation. The ambience, the wine and the champagne were quality. The ambiance was appropriate and the staff were, although not as proactive, satisfactory.

Now the food...

Love the mixed green salad with their soft boiked egg in light crram sauce; a fresh change from the blah of caesar salads.

Adore the creamed spinach... Just enough saltiness to get addictive.

The squash soup is also a winner! Perfect for the Ber months and the croutons? Crunchy! My suspicion is they were toasted in bacon oil. Yummy! My first time enjoying croutons.

The roasted pork with glazed veggies over a spread of mash could have used more time to broil but tender enough that we took an additional serving home ;)

Overall, a good experience. Great for the kids to understand the logic behind fine dining. Very pleasant for date night.

Kain!

One of the great things you'll discover for yourselves when in Manila, is that there are numerous restaurants that serve exquisite international dishes that wiil always, always leave you on a hunt to find the next great resto. I was on that same mission a few weeks ago and that hunt led me to Enderun's Restaurant 101.

So what's a school doing in the business of running a restaurant? Here's the interesting part. Restaurant 101 is actually an application restaurant which means most of the servers and cooks are, get this, actual students! Yep, Enderun's very own students who, under the careful and watchful eyes of their mentors, apply everything they learned in their classrooms and school kitchens and whip up meals worthy of praise! To complete the dining experience for their patrons (and the teaching and learning experience for their students too) , Enderun Colleges even made sure that the restaurant would also be very stylish and reminiscent of contemporary Parisian restaurants. The restaurant is very spacious, the lighting subdued, and the furniture very classy which helped make the whole feel of the restaurant just very relaxed. Because of all that, throughout our whole experience at Restaurant 101, we did not feel, not even for a second, that we were inside an actual college campus.

Now, allow me to walk you through our impeccably delicious meal. First up was the cocotte of seasonal vegetables which was a mix of seasonal vegetables in olive oil, the 101 Caesar salad with classic romaine and their special homemade dressing and my personal favorite among the starters, the tanigue tartar which consisted of bits of pomelo, cilantro, salmon roe and calamansi dressing. Restaurant 101 pride themselves in not only changing their market menu every two weeks, they also make sure that they use local produce to make their signature dishes, as in the case of the tanigue tartar where they even finish off the dish with a mix of their calamansi dressing. And by adding the traditional french techniques to their cooking, they come up with recipes uniquely their own. And that tanique tartar was unique, fresh and very satisfying and it was also nice that it wasn't heavy at all and I felt that it prepared my palette for the main course that was about to be served. So take my word for it, this starter is a must try when you come visit this restaurant.

The Escargot Risotto was served first for the main course. The bowl of bright green food that greeted us was certainly interesting (aka, i’m not sure what that is) and it made me very curious as to what the taste would be like. And i’m quite happy to say that I was very fond of it. It wasn’t as heavy as most risotto’s I’ve had the (mis)fortune to try and the rice was cooked perfectly as well, not soggy nor dry. And the snails that lay atop the risotto added a little twist to the sweet flavor of the meal. It was just lovely. The escargot risotto would be one of my recommendations for your visit. Up next was the Grilled Sea Bass, where the fish was laid beautifully on top of a mix of squid, capers and basil. The fish was grilled to perfection, just enough to keep the outside intact but the inside remain juicy and piping hot! I’m a little particular with fish, meaning I like to have mine very fresh, if it could come straight from the sea and then cleaned and deboned and cooked right away, all the more better, but living in the city has made the access of fresh fish quite a task for me. But in this case, the grilled sea bass was fresh, tender and sweet and it was just delicious! It was very tasty, that I could definitely say, but because of it’s steep price and small portion, I might hesitate to get this the next time I come here.

The roasted chicken breast paled in comparison to the other dishes in terms of it’s presentation. I would’ve liked to have seen a little more color on my plate, maybe add a little vegetables on the side. But apart from that, don’t let it’s appearance fool you though (like it did me), this dish was juicy and savory and the perfectly cooked mashed potatoes with the gravy sauce of the chicken went perfectly together (my mouth is watering just thinking about this meal!). It soon became one of my personal favorites from their menu. So far, we’ve had five dishes and to be honest, I was already more than happy with the meals that we’ve had but the salmon sounded too good to pass up so we had that too. True enough, the Pan-seared Salmon was worth it, besides (i convinced myself), it’s seafood! We don’t gain a lot of weight when we eat seafood right? ;) and I know Salmon is definitely lower in fat than most red meats, so we’re good to go! And just look at the picture, even you would be able to tell that this too, was cooked to perfection. Soft enough that you know you can slice through this one quite easily. It was perfect.

Oh!! And the Banana Surprise!! Imagine this, ham-wrapped senorita bananas cooked in a sauce that was absorbed by the bananas and was cooked until it left a crispy surface that I just wanted to break into. Now i know bananas and meat doesn’t sound like a good idea but this idea worked and it worked so well that when my fork broke into it, I took a bite off it, and became an immediate fan. This was one surprise that I enjoyed till the last bite! The sweetness of the sauce and the bananas complemented the meat, you’d be pleasantly surprised with this odd combination. Another definite must-try!

When you finish a meal that just soooo delicious, you really can’t think of eating more…but…well, desert was up next. And who could say no to desert right? Not me. It is, after all, my favorite part of any meal :) We had the Ricotta Tart , which had senorita bananas and chocolate ice cream which was good but it was their enderun-colleges-restaurant-101-mckinley-hill-when-in-manila-fine-dining-shayla-sanchez-delicious-lunch that I enjoyed more. It looked simple but the chocolate was so moist and it went well with the outer crispy praline. Yum! I was glad I lef t a little more room for desert as it was worth it!

Down to the very end, I was impressed with Enderun’s Restaurant 101. I would definitely recommend this place for couples who want to just take time out from the busy metro and have someplace nice and quiet for a lovely meal just for two. My date and I enjoyed this meal and enjoyed the time that we had together at such a unique date spot. We’re already planning our next visit soon.


So when in Manila and looking for a new date place, check our Enderun’s Restaurant 101 and enjoy the culinary dishes prepared just for you by their students and their internationally acclaimed chefs and mentors. And while you’re at it, maybe later on discover the other interesting classes that this college has to offer!